Artificial insemination is widely used in modern animal breeding, e.g. in the breeding of cows and zoo animals. The most common method of collecting semen in animals is by the use of an artificial vagina. Many different types of these artificial vaginas have been developed such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,312,350; 4,690,678 and 5,540,670. Some of these can become quite elaborate such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,350 and may include a dummy animal as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,670.
It is an object of the present invention to develop an artificial vagina which can be used internally in a female animal.
The present invention in its broadest aspect relates to an internal artificial vagina for collecting animal semen, particularly bovine semen. It includes a stiff support frame comprising a straight bar portion having at one end thereof a generally circular ring portion substantially perpendicular to the axis of the bar portion and an attachment means at the other end of the bar portion. An elastomeric tube open at both ends is adapted to slide within the frame ring portion with an end portion of the elastomeric tube stretched and pulled outwardly around the frame ring portion whereby the ring portion is retained within the folded portion of the elastomeric tube. The other end portion of the elastomeric tube is fixed to the attachment means of the frame. A replaceable semen collection bag is also provided comprising an elongated generally cylindrical thin, flexible plastic member having a closed end and an open end. The collection bag is adapted to slide over the elastomeric tube with the open end being detachably connected to the elastomeric tube and the collection bag having a length substantially greater than the length of the elastomeric tube.
The stiff support frame may be in a form of plastic coated wire or a strong polymeric material. The attachment means on the frame may conveniently be in the form of a small loop which can then be used for stitching the frame to the elastomeric tube.
The semen collection bag typically has the closed end thereof tapered to form a point. This collection bag is intended to be disposable and may be fixed to the elastomeric tube by means of adhesive tape.
While the invention is described hereinafter with respect to the collection of bull semen, it is equally useful for collecting semen from a wide variety of animals. For instance, it may be used in the artificial insemination of zoo animals as well as native animals such as deer, elk, moose, etc.